Advanced Analytics Go Beyond Weather Forecasting

Artificial intelligence and deep learning, or machine learning, are an increasing part of the advanced analytics StormGeo offers to shipping through its meteorological services.

Advanced analytics are sophisticated methods to discover deeper insights, make predictions or generate recommendations by examining vast amounts of data. “With advanced analytics, you can uncover new opportunities in all types of data from a variety of sources,” says StormGeo’s CEO Kent Zehetner. “For example, using advanced analytics, StormGeo can reduce a vessel’s fuel consumption and predict a helideck’s heave or pitch and roll movements on an oil rig.”

Raw data in its unprocessed state does not offer much value, says Zehetner. When the data volume gets very complex, unorganized and comes from many different sources it is impossible for humans to comprehend and understand relationships, while machines will be able to process and put the data into context. The technical term for using machine learning in this way is called "deep learning."

“It is with the right analytic techniques that StormGeo offers rich insights to aid in providing true businesses value,” says Zehetner.

“To classify the dataset, we depend on our experts to transfer their knowledge about the datasets. It is important that our team of data scientists "train" the algorithms so we can apply that learning to the entire dataset,” he says. “The computer is then able to recognize complex patterns and train the algorithms so they support the decision process – and, in some cases, automate it.

“But even when you have the best automated solutions, the human decision maker will still want to consult with experts when challenging situations are present. That will remain the situation for considerable time.”

For shipping, StormGeo has developed algorithms for efficient and safe weather routing of ships, which reduced overall fuel consumption by approximately 600,000 tons per year. This is approximately 1.9 million tons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to a CO2 consumption of 430,000 cars. StormGeo routes approximately 6,000 ships per month and has onboard systems installed on more than 5500 vessels.

CPO Containerschiffreederei Digs Deeper

StormGeo customer CPO Containerschiffreederei needed to improve its access to real-time weather data, and soon realized that having weather forecasts available anywhere in the world was not enough. The company needed a tool that would also turn accurate weather information into actionable route options for its 64-ship fleet. Read the full article here.